Shanghai-bonded copper stocks continued to fall in October, but the decline was slower than in September due to the relatively limited amount of metal available, wide arbitrage losses and fewer working days last month.
Fastmarkets assessed Shanghai-bonded copper stocks at 253,000-256,000 tonnes at the end of October, a drop of 13.3% from 292,000-295,000 tonnes at the end of September, which was published on October 7 due to China's National Day holiday.The latest assessment places stocks near their lowest ever level of 250,000 tonnes, reached on October 26, 2015, according to Fastmarkets historical data. But October's decline is slower than the 19% month-on-month drop recorded at the end of September.This slower decline was mainly due to the already low level of stocks in the bonded zone during October and a widening arbitrage loss over the month, market participants told Fastmarkets."Bonded stocks are already at very low levels, and I doubt there is much room for further declines," a trader source based in Shanghai said."Actually, the existing bonded stocks level is well below my estimation, [and that is] already a very low level," a second trader...